Steve Gunn’s recent session for Seattle’s KEXP consisting of “Vagabond”, “Chance”, “Luciano”, and “Morning Is Mended” from the critically acclaimed ‘The Unseen In Between’ is now available for viewing (see above).

On June 7, we’ll be reissuing Sonic Youth’s ‘Battery Park, NYC: July 4, 2008’. Initially sold as a bonus item alongside the 2009 release of the band’s final album, ‘The Eternal’, the live recording will now be available on streaming services and as a stand-alone physical package for the first time ever. Culled from their show at Battery Park’s River To River Festival (and broadcast live on WFMU), the setlist spans the band’s 30-year career.

The live version of “Bull In The Heather” is now available to stream HERE.

Coinciding with the full release of the live album on June 7th, ‘The Eternal’ will be 25% off on the Matador Store from that date to June 14th.

Orders from the Matador Store include a Matador Records Revisionist History Slipmat (while supplies last).

Interpol today release a new 5 song EP, ‘A Fine Mess’, including the sought-after live favorite “Real Life,” first heard during the band’s ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’ 15th anniversary tour in 2017. Recorded during time spent in upstate New York with Dave Fridmann, the five songs that make up ‘A Fine Mess’ gradually emerged as a body of work with a narrative and flow unto itself. The title track, “Fine Mess,” then received further production from Kaines & Tom A.D. and mixing from Claudius Mittendorfer, who had first worked with Interpol as engineer on ‘Our Love To Admire’. The resulting set is a living, breathing postcard from the band to their fans as they tour the world throughout 2019, and a linear continuation of the visceral and contagious energy set loose with ‘Marauder’.

Echoing its title, the artwork for ‘A Fine Mess’ is illustrated by a series of lost images, recovered from an abandoned police station in Detroit, MI. In a crumbling evidence room – amongst the rubble – an undeveloped roll of film, dated “1-20-96”, featured latent images of a breaking and entering scene, the rooms in chaos.

From the beguiling refrain of the title track, to the soulful topsy-turvy of “No Big Deal,” cathartic chorus of long sought-after live favourite “Real Life,” anthemic swell of “The Weekend,” and angular shades of “Thrones,” ‘A Fine Mess’ is a bracing and distinct entry in Interpol’s oeuvre.

This morning Steve Gunn has confirmed a new August/September European tour in support of the critically acclaimed ‘The Unseen In Between’, accompanied by Anton Coene’s footage of the album’s standout “Morning Is Mended”, filmed in the former monestary, Caermersklooster.

More August dates have been added to Snail Mail’s August US schedule (shows in bold below) including a second NYC show at the newly reopened Webster Hall on August 1 and a headlining appearance at LA’s Wiltern Theatre on August 22. Pre-sale tickets are available on each venue’s site beginning tomorrow at 10am local time by entering the code LUSH19.

In other Snail Mail news, Lindsey Jordan has been selected to be a Fender Next Artist representing the diverse state of music globally. Her partnership with Fender as a featured artist in their new Player Series campaign is celebrated in the above new video clip as she shares her story and creative journey as a world-class guitarist.

Perfume Genius has announced a collaborative dance and music performance with Kate Wallich + The YC titled The Sun Still Burns Here. The evening-long piece, set to debut later this year, is co-directed by Perfume Genius and Wallich and stars Perfume Genius’s Mike Hadreas alongside the dance troupe the YC.

Ahead of the official premiere events in Seattle and NYC this Fall, Mass MoCA in North Adams MA and Mark Morris Dance Theater in New York City will host work-in-process showings and workshops with the ensemble. Info for all related events is below.

Work In Process Showing
Saturday, June 8th Mass MoCA, North Adams MA

Workshop with The YC
June 21st and 22nd Mark Morris Dance Center, New York NY

World Premiere
October 4th & 5th Moore Theatre, Seattle WA

East Coast Premiere
November 13th – 17th The Joyce Theater, New York NY

In honor of both Mother’s Day and Taurus Season, Lucy Dacus has released a new song titled “My Mother and I”, Following her Valentine’s Day cover of “La Vie En Rose,” this is the first original composition of her ongoing 2019 holiday song series, which will also include singles tied to Independence Day, Springsteen’s Birthday, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s.

“My Mother And I” is a lullaby of sorts, about “babies born in the month of May” that are “down to earth” and “see eye to eye” and “dig our feet in,” but at its core, it’s a brutally frank exploration of body image and the emotional form it takes when passed down generationally.

In Lucy’s words: “Being adopted has encouraged me to consider what mothers pass on through blood and body, and what they impart in the way of socialization and context. We — daughters, and all children — easily inherit the shame and fear of our mothers, but also the pride, self-assurance, and lessons of love. This song focuses on body image and the distinction between the body and the soul, which I can hardly claim to have clarity about to this day. I also reflect on traits my mother and I share as Taurean women- how we are steadfast but headstrong, empathetic but grounded, and dedicated to finding and giving reliable love and comfort.”

Earlier this month, Interpol announced they will join Morrissey on the road in North America surrounding the one-year anniversary of Marauder. Today, the band has extended their routing to include headlining dates in additional cities throughout The United States. General on sale for the newly announced shows is this Friday, April 26th at 10am local time.

A very limited Japanese edition of Iceage’s ‘Beyondless’ has been pressed on smokey grey vinyl complete with OBI strip, to commemorate the band’s upcoming Tokyo tour date (June 11). It’s available now in very limited quantity.

Austin City Limits is thrilled to welcome two remarkable artists under the age of 25-years-old. Lauded singer/songwriter phenoms Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus join us for the first time on July 30 for a taping highlight—a one-of-a-kind co-headline evening with these two accomplished solo artists.

Memphis native Julien Baker’s chilling solo debut, ‘Sprained Ankle’, was one of the most widely acclaimed works of 2015. The album, recorded by a then 18-year-old and her friend in only a few days, was a bleak yet hopeful, intimate document of staggering experiences and grace, centered entirely around Baker’s voice, guitar, and unblinking honesty. Sprained Ankle appeared on year-end lists everywhere from NPR Music to The AV Club to New York Magazine’s Vulture. With 2017’s ‘Turn Out The Lights’, Baker claimed a much bigger stage, but with the same core of breathtaking vulnerability and resilience. From its opening moments — when her chiming, evocative melody is accompanied by swells of strings — Turn Out The Lights throws open the doors to the world without sacrificing the intimacy that has become a hallmark of her songs. The album explores how people live and come to terms with their internal conflict, and the alternately shattering and redemptive ways these struggles play out in relationships. “Turn Out The Lights is beautifully crafted throughout,” noted Spin, “full of the kinds of songs that linger long after they’ve ended.” Under the Radar declared, “Baker is writing faultless songs that will always have a home in our hearts because finding comfort in even the saddest moments means we’re still feeling. And if we’re feeling, there’s hope for us yet.”

2018 was a milestone year for Richmond, VA’s Lucy Dacus. Her widely celebrated sophomore record, Historian, was met by a cavalcade of critical elation, with NPR, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, NBC News, Slate, The Atlantic, Billboard, Paste, Stereogum, and more choosing it as one of the year’s best albums. Dacus’ remarkable sense of melody and composition are the driving force throughout, giving Historian the immersive feel of an album made by an artist in full command of her powers. “This is the album I needed to make,” says Dacus, who views ‘Historian’ as her definitive statement as a songwriter and musician. “Everything after this is a bonus.” She played revelatory sold-out shows at clubs and festivals alike, along with multiple high profile television appearances. A glance at her worldwide touring schedule in 2019 shows little sign that Dacus is slowing down, and in fact, she will release a series of songs titled 2019 to celebrate. Recorded in here-and-there studio spurts over the last two years, 2019 will be released later this year as a physical EP on Matador Records, and will be made up of originals and cover songs tied to specific holidays, each of which will drop around their respective date: Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day (and Taurus season!), Independence Day, Springsteen’s Birthday, Halloween, Christmas, and New Year’s.

Want to be part of the audience? We will post information on how to get free passes a week before the taping. Follow Austin City Limits on Facebook and Twitter for notice of postings. The broadcast episode will air on PBS later this year as part of ACL’s upcoming milestone Season 45.

Steve Gunn has released a tribute to the late director Agnes Varda who, among many other works, created the film Vagabond after which Gunn named the first single off his new album The Unseen In Between. The director of Gunn’s new music video Naomi Yang had these words to share:

The lyrics tie the song very directly to the imagery in the film so I felt the main challenge in making the video was to honor the film without trying to literally recreate it, and to express the emotional weight of Steve’s song which was all his own.

Formally, Varda’s film is structured around 12 long tracking shots of the main character walking from right to left. There are also a few simple reoccurring props in the film: cigarettes, a painting, a transistor radio. These elements I pulled from the film and used in the video. I decided that by echoing some formal elements from the film we could be secretly give a nod to the film in homage, but it would not depend on you knowing the film to understand the song or the video.

I set the video in Pittsburgh – a place that both Steve and I were essentially strangers. Steve and I wandered the edges for 3 days. The thought was Steve was following in the footsteps of the character from Varda’s film, that perhaps she had left right before he arrived, had just moved on – leaving Steve to find only her traces. And after all, isn’t that not unlike the itinerant life of a musician?

Years ago, when I was in Galaxie 500, we arrived in a club in Europe, and found personal greetings in graffiti to us on the wall of the band room. Friends of ours had played the same club the week before, left us a message and moved on.

And now, sadly, Agnés Varda has passed on. But she has left us with her incredible, soulful, mischievous, political, compassionate body of work to discover, rediscover, and be inspired by.

— Naomi Yang, 2019

Steve Gunn continues on his tour dates in support of The Unseen In Between this week in North America, beginning Thursday in Milwaukee. See a full list of upcoming dates below.

(photo by Halfdan Venlov)Marking the start of their North American tour, Iceage have released a new video for ‘Pain Killer’, one of the standout tracks from their critically acclaimed fourth album Beyondless.

Hallucinogenic epiphanies filmed between Tijuana, San Diego and LA interspersed with 70’s pulp animation? Visual cues from Wild At Heart, Fear And Loathingin Las Vegas, and the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage? VHS footage featuring a cameo from Sky Ferreira shot in the garage of Lili Hayes?

Directed by Mortis Studio with additional animation from Josh Freydkis and featuring lead actors Linda Abud & Sebastian Alvarez, the video for ‘Pain Killer’ truly has it all, and is a potent chaser to the visceral and intoxicating potion of the audio.

Iceage’s North American run of dates in support Beyondless kicks off Friday, April 12th in Las Vegas, with Shame and Nadah El Shazly supporting on select dates. A full list of upcoming dates can be found below.

With a triumphant European tour about to conclude and a US tour with Gun Outfit about to commence, Steve Gunn announces a new run of headline North American tour dates this summer. Spanning the Northeast corridor, the tour begins on July 24th in Portland, ME and ends with a hometown show at Brooklyn’s Industry City on August 3rd. The full list of tour dates can be found below and is accompanied by the release of an acoustic video for ‘The Unseen In Between’ standout track, “Chance,” the third in a series of live acoustic videos made by The Mitcham Submarine — this one filmed at London’s Albert Memorial.

Interpol will mark their first anniversary on the road in support of ‘Marauder’ with a series of large-scale indoor and outdoor September dates alongside Morrissey. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 12 at 10am local time.

This morning KEXP has released Kurt Vile’s new session live at the station’s Gathering Space in Seattle WA. Vile performs two cuts from his new LP Bottle It In, as well as “Ghost Town” from Smoke Ring For My Halo and “Slow Talkers” from his debut album ConstantHitmaker.

Kurt Vile continues on the endless world tour with The Violators in support of Bottle It In this Month in Australia and New Zealand. Tickets for all shows listed below are on sale now.

Lucy Dacus has announced new tour dates surrounding her festival performances in Europe this Spring and Summer. These dates follow next month’s headlining shows in the American South. All dates listed below are on sale now.

Interpol today announce a new EP, ‘A Fine Mess’, which will be released May 17th. The new track “The Weekend,” is available to stream and purchase today.

Recorded during time spent in upstate New York with Dave Fridmann, the five songs that make up ‘A Fine Mess’ gradually emerged as a body of work with a narrative and flow unto itself. The previously released title track, “Fine Mess,” then received further production from Kaines & Tom A.D. and mixing from Claudius Mittendorfer, who had first worked with Interpol as engineer on ‘Our Love To Admire’. The resulting set is a living, breathing postcard from the band to their fans as they tour the world throughout 2019, and a linear continuation of the visceral and contagious energy setloose with ‘Marauder’.

Echoing its title, the artwork for A Fine Mess is illustrated by a series of lost images, recovered from an abandoned police station in Detroit, MI. In a crumbling evidence room – amongst the rubble – an undeveloped roll of film, dated “1-20-96,” featured latent images of a breaking-and-entering scene, the rooms in chaos. From the beguiling refrain of the title track, to the soulful topsy-turvy of “No Big Deal,” cathartic chorus of long sought-after live favorite “Real Life,” anthemic swell of “The Weekend,” and angular shades of ‘Thrones,” A Fine Mess is a bracing and distinct addition to Interpol’s oeuvre.

While supplies last, all pre-orders of the A Fine Mess EP will receive a bonus “All At Once” 7”, available only on vinyl, not on streaming services. This value add is available exclusively on Matador’s webstores worldwide. Orders have the option to bundle the “A Fine Mess” t-shirt, and to purchase the t-shirt separately. This bundle is available only on the US Matador webstore and on Interpol’s online store.

In addition to the major festival appearances below, there’s 3 new headlining Snail Mail shows on tap including July 31st at Brooklyn Steel. Tickets for the dates in bold go on sale this Friday at 10am local time.

After releasing videos alongside the advance singles “Viktor Borgia,” “Rushing The Acid Frat,” and “Come Get Me,” Stephen Malkmus’s solo record Grooved Denied is out in the world today. Stream the new album/Purchase the clear vinyl edition or CD HERE.

Malkmus’s solo dates are selling out quickly, see a full list of his May ’19 Groove Denied performances as well as upcoming shows with The Jicks below.

Stephen Malkmus will partake in a Reddit A.M.A. today at 4pm Eastern– more information about that interview is available here.